Adrick McKinney added 12 points and nine rebounds and Kyan Anderson scored 11 points for the Horned Frogs (7-4) in their first game after a 10-day break for final exams.

“I thought defensively we did pretty good; Southern is a very good basketball team,” Johnson said. “In the second half, we did a good job of identifying shooters. They’ll make you pay because they can shoot the ball.”

The Frogs outrebounded their opponent (33-29) for the first time since Nov. 24 against Alabama-Birmingham. They shot 50 percent or better (24 of 48) for the third time this season.

And, most important, they responded to a challenge by Johnson after letting the Jaguars creep back into the game early in the second half. After a timeout, TCU went almost 8½ minutes without allowing a field goal.

TCU extended its lead to double digits for the first time when Green hit two free throws and a 3-pointer for a 55-43 cushion with 6:46 to play.

Southern (4-6) went 0 for 8 from 3-point range in the second half.

Coming into the game, TCU was No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 6 in the NCAA in scoring defense, giving up 52.5 points a game.

“We put on a better defensive display today,” Green said. “A couple of times we had a few breakdowns, but we played against a team that shoots the ball well, and I think we did a good job in the second half.”

Derick Beltran led the Jaguars with 17 points. Jameel Grace and Malcolm Miller each scored 12.